As reported by the ​Daily Mail, the transfer fee in total will be £72m. However, £52m of this will be paid over the course of the next five seasons.

​Arsenal are having to manage their budget carefully following their failure to qualify for next season's ​Champions League after finishing fifth in the ​Premier League and losing in the final of the Europa League.

Should the Gunners complete the purchase of the Ivory Coast international, they will secure the most expensive signing of any Premier League club in this summer's transfer window so far.

The deal represents something of a coup for Arsenal considering they had stiff competition from the likes of ​Manchester United, ​Liverpool and ​Napoli for the Ligue 1 star's services.

Nevertheless, the Lille forward is due to undergo a medical in London before the end of this week, with the official announcement of his signing expected shortly after.

Only Kylian Mbappe registered more goals in Ligue 1 than the Ivorian last year, as Pepe found the net 22 times while laying on 11 assists for his teammates.

22+11 - Nicolas #Pepe is one of the two players with 20+ goals and 10+ assists in the top-5 European Leagues 2018/19 (22 goals and 11 assists), alongside Lionel Messi. Devasting. pic.twitter.com/8TVoaYtPAR